During the end of the review period, the news of the passing of legendary jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson came. He was an innovative and brilliant composer, and I called up some of his masterful early work in tribute. Albums like Spiral, Medina, Montara, View From The Inside, and Waiting are a kaleidoscope of jazz, funk, world music, and soul that sounded fresh and via the microRendu. The complex arrangements were easy to follow, and the coherence the microRendu brought to the table was on display.

Taking full advantage of the microRendu’s capability, I streamed a ton of 24/96, 24/192, and DSD files. All played back without a hitch, and the sonic results were as expected. Steven Wilson’s Yes, Jethro Tull, and King Crimson 24/96 remixes sounded spectacular, with nuances in the mix appearing with impressive clarity. The Analogue Productions remix and remaster of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here was another stunner. David Gilmour’s guitar and Roger Water’s bass had excellent presence and body.

After about a month, I switched over to the Roon protocol, simply by downloading and installing Roon on my Mac Mini, and switching over to the Roon app on the microRendu. The last piece of the puzzle was getting the Roon app for the iPad Air. My overall impression is Roon was slightly superior to DLNA sonically. It was not a landslide, there was just a bit more refinement to my ears. This may be due to the way Roon supposedly simplifies the audio chain, as many claim DLNA is a complicated protocol. I stuck with Roon, and continue to use it.

Ergonomically, the microRendu is a digital music lover’s dream. It never dropped from the network, was super responsive, and recognized my DAC immediately. With the iFi iPower the unit ran a bit warm to the touch. With the SOtM battery supply it was slightly above room temperature. Not at all a concern, but it should be given a decent breathing space. Other than that, there are no other issues when using this wonderful device.

Conclusion

The Sonore microRendu is a game changer. Period.

It will allow customers to enjoy performance, that was previously the domain of far more expensive file players, for $640 plus the power supply of your choice. Just an additional $50 and you can use the iFI 9V iPower. You can spend more too, your choice. It should be noted that Uptone Audio is soon going to release their UltraCap LPS-1 power supply for the microRendu. It is an advanced design is supposed to come in at under $350, final price to be determined.

The microRendu, design goals have been met with spectacular success. Namely, a headless, stripped down device with all the fat trimmed, and the highest quality components that could reasonably procured. The small elegant case is all that is needed to house the carefully selected internals, which deliver bit perfect audio at the proprietary regenerated USB output. If one is seeking streamer for a networked library that works with DLNA, as a Roon endpoint, or with several other configurations, and that passes through every known file resolution and format, this is it folks. A no brainer, hesitation free recommendation.